'Everything in my home has been destroyed' says flood victim

Pauline Donnelly being rescued from her Draperstown home.

A mother-of-six who was left homeless after her two-storey house was flooded says she has been traumatised by the incident.

Pauline Donnelly was rescued by members of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service special flood response team as the water swept off the mountain into the ground floor of her property at River Road, near Draperstown.

“I think what happened is now only beginning to sink in,” she said a week after the flood. “Everything has been destroyed. My new kitchen was destroyed and we didn’t have time to get any of the furniture out. Everything is mud, dirt and sand.”

Although no one was injured, Mrs Donnelly is concerned that it might happen again and this week met with officials from the Rivers Agency to find out if a flood prevention grant could be obtained.

She claimed she had been promised a grant several years ago when a similar flood occurred.

Mrs Donnelly, who is now living with family members, says she is more hopeful this time that some action will be taken to prevent the water running off the mountain into her house.

She has lived at the property at Straw for 32 years and says last Tuesday’s flood caused by Storm Francis was “the worse I can remember”.

SDLP councillor Martin Kearney, who was at the scene, praised the rapid response of the emergency services.